A total of twenty-seven returning county champions, including one state titlist and one former champion are set to defend their titles at both the Nassau and Suffolk County Wrestling Championships this weekend. The Nassau Tournament is slated to start on Saturday at Nassau CC beginning at 10:00 am and the Suffolk Tournament is scheduled for Sunday at Stony Brook starting at 12:00 noon.
The lone state champion on Long Island is West Babylon's Alton Lucas(30-0, 158-11 career mark) at 160 pounds. Lucas was a double placer at the Junior Nationals and will be tough to beat.The former Suffolk titlist is Chris Lahn(125) of Lindenhurst, he won the 96-pound crown in 2003. Suffolk returns five state runners-up; Corey Jantzen(28-0) of SWRiver at 119, now in Division II, three-time state finalist, Islip's Tom Magnani(29-0, 142-13) at 119, teammate Ryan Patrovich(27-2) at 152, John Barone(29-1) of Floyd at 171 and Huntington's Jack Sullivan(18-2) at 189 pounds. Other reigning champions are Peppy Cabrera(103) of Brentwood and Sachem North's Ken Kennedy(19-1) at 275 pounds. Both Cabrera and Kennedy are returning state medalists. The favorite to capture the team title is Islip HS, the top-ranked team on Long Island and in New York State, other contenders will be Smithtown, Brentwood, Huntington, Riverhead and Hills East. In the Division II Tournament, grapplers that will defend their crowns are, Mike Castellano(103) of John Glenn, the Rueda brothers from Mt.Sinai; Jason(112) and Jared(125), along with Mike Breitfeller(135) of Babylon and Bayport Blue-Point's Brian Wilson at 215 pounds. Both the Ruedas and Breitfeller are returning state place-winners. The top team in Division II appears to be Shoreham-Wading River, others to challenge are Mt.Sinai, John Glenn and Hampton Bays.
Nassau defending champions and NYS place-finishers are; PJ Gillespie(38-3) of Long Beach at 103, East Meadow's Spencer Cook(34-1) at 140 and teammate, unbeaten Matt DeLuca(35-0) at 171 pounds. Other returning titlists are, Chris Reilly(112) of Garden City, MacArthur's tandem of Steve DeLorenzo(22-4) at 119 and Bruce Popko(24-6) at 125, along with Jason Chimon(125) of Syosset and Farmingdale's Nakyle Bethay at 160 pounds. Division II winner,Tim Montgomery of Seaford, moves into the Division I competition and is sixth-seeded at 112 pounds. MacArthur HS is seeking their fifth consecutive team championship and is the clear cut favorite, other challengers will be Massapequa, Uniondale, East Meadow, Plainedge, Long Beach and Mepham. Reigning champions in Division II are Mike Gomez(96) of Locust Valley, the Gullo twins from Wheatley, Joel(119) and Nick(125), along with Don Carleton(130) of North Shore and Valley Stream North's Dan Guiliante at 189 pounds. The top teams that will vie for the small schools' team title are Mineola, Wheatley, Manhasset, Locust Valley and Oyster Bay. |
